* <eat name="Mikes" alt="A Greek name prounounced ''MEE-kehs''" address="Old Town" directions="In a tiny lane near 17 Socratous Street," phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price="">A hole-in-the-wall place provided with outdoor seating. Serves fish, salad, and wine, and not much else. A very simple restaurant but pleasant, and the seafood is of impeccable quality and well though simply prepared.</eat>

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* <eat name="Mikes" alt="A Greek name prounounced ''MEE-kehs''" address="Old Town" directions="In a tiny lane near 17 Socratous Street," phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price="A decent sized meal with drinks will cost around €15 per person">A hole-in-the-wall place with outdoor seating in a cosy backstreet, tucked away from the tourist masses. Serves fish, salad, and wine, and not much else. A very simple restaurant but pleasant, and the seafood, whilst being simple, is of impeccable quality and well prepared. The dorado is particulaly tasty, and at €10 is good value.</eat>

===Mid-range===

===Mid-range===

Revision as of 13:52, 17 July 2012

Rhodes[1] is the largest settlement and capital city of the island of the same name. It is famous as the former site of the Colossus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and the oldest inhabited medieval town in Europe.

Contents

Understand

6000 people live and work in the same buildings the Knights of St. John lived in 6 centuries ago.

Orientation

For the traveller, Rhodes City falls into four more or less distinct areas.

Rhodes Old Town, still enclosed by its medieval wall.

Rhodes New Town, north and west of the Old Town, is an extensive and fairly non-descript modern city.

Commercial Harbor, New Town's eastern waterfront

Mandhraki Harbor, the yacht and ferry harbour

Elli Beach

Acropolis of Rhodes, the ruins of the ancient city, are about 2 km southwest of the Old Town.

Get in

By plane

The only airport of the island is the Rhodes International Airport (IATA: RHO) or Diagoras International Airport. "Diagoras" (Greek: Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Ρόδου, "Διαγόρας"). The airport is situated on the west coast about 14 km from Rhodes Town. From there, you can reach Rhodes city with a bus, car or taxi.

Get around

In the Old Town, the primary method of travel are your feet.

Medieval buildings, mosques, traditional fountains, oriental motifs, Byzantine and Gothic churches, shops and cafeterias are scattered throughout the Old Town of Rhodes, There are approximately 200 streets or lanes that have no name so getting lost is a distinct possibility.

See

The Avenue of the Knights in Rhodes Old Town

Rhodes Old Town itself is surely the main attraction here. A UNESCO World Heritage Site [2], it is one of the best preserved and most extensive medieval towns in Europe. As you wander from the bus station, and over the outer wall and moat, it's like stepping back in time and reliving all your childhood dreams of being a knight and attacking exotic castles in distant lands. It is also the location of many monuments and several museums - make sure to get a good map. If you want to see it all, plan for at least a day, and two will not be amiss if you want to see all the museums.

Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes - can be split into outside, courtyard, outside wall, first floor and second floor. Open in season till 8PM, entry is €6, outside wall is an additional €2. The first floor (photos prohibited) contains some artifacts of Ancient Rhodes but is closed - in it's absence, the entrance fee is entirely not worth it. The Archaeological Museum offers more selection and allows photos. Second floor has a variety of later "artifacts" such as mosaics from Kos and other odd bits and bobs, but it has almost no descriptions (probably to force people to wait for a tour guide). The Palace of the Grand Masters was demolished by a gunpowder explosion in 1856 and reconstructed by the Italians as a summer residence for Mussolini in 1940. This knowledge (that this isn't actually an authentic swords and knights castle and is instead basically a souped up country mansion) somewhat lessens the excitement. Take your photos outside, and come back to look inside when the ground floor exhibitions on Rhodes are open.

Institute of Marine Biology (Aquarium)

Archbishops Palace

Annunciation church

Central Post Office

Town hall, Theatre and Government House (Italian architecture)

Rhodes Archaeological Museum, Megalou Alexandrou Square, ☎+30 2241 075674, +30 2241 034719 (rotocol@kbepka.culture.gr, fax: +30 2241 031048), [3]. Open in season till 8PM. It has two floors, and most of the exhibits are on the second, past the big stairs. The museum operates a tour of the city walls Tuesdays and Saturdays at 8AM leaving from the Palace of the Grand Masters. Visitors are simply allowed up on the walls to walk along the top of them at their own pace. This walk offers views of the town not otherwise available and is the best way to get an idea of the size of the town and the variety of its architecture.It is not guided.€3.

Museum of Decorative Art

Gallery

Do

Explore

Walk throughout this medieval city and its many streets and lanes by foot.

New Market

Learn

Work

Buy

Colorful sea shells offered for sale - mostly in the harbour area - are often actually imported from Asia or the Caribbean. Not only do they provide a non-authentic Rhodes souvenir, many species for sale are also protected. Bringing them back home may get you into considerable difficulty.

Many brand name products such as t-shirts, towels, hand bags and similar items for sale in the tourist shops may be fakes and/or unlicensed.

Labyrinthos Arts & Crafts, Theofiliskou 1 (Near Roloi clocktower). Original arts and creations by local artists, also the only place in the Old Town to sell historically accurate coat of arms of the Knights, medieval style heraldry and illuminated manuscripts.

Eat

Budget

Mikes (A Greek name prounounced ''MEE-kehs''), Old Town (In a tiny lane near 17 Socratous Street,). A hole-in-the-wall place with outdoor seating in a cosy backstreet, tucked away from the tourist masses. Serves fish, salad, and wine, and not much else. A very simple restaurant but pleasant, and the seafood, whilst being simple, is of impeccable quality and well prepared. The dorado is particulaly tasty, and at €10 is good value.A decent sized meal with drinks will cost around €15 per person.

Mid-range

Laganis, Solomou Alhadef 16. A more traditional taverna with good mezedhes

Splurge

Drink

The Turkish Cafe, 76 Sokratous. "A rare, wonderfully atmospheric survival of old Rhodes in the middle of the tourist hordes. Run by a charming couple, it serves excellent coffee and a small range of other drinks. Not much food except for a few snacks.

Mango Rooms, Sq. Dorieos 3, Rhodes (In Old Town square, behind San Fanourios church). checkin: 1PM; checkout: 12 noon. US$25-$50 per person for a double room, depending on season. Nice man Dimitrius and his family run this hotel in the middle of the walled town..